Larry Bird vs. Brandon Jennings: Career Scoring Comparison
We break down the scoring legacies of Brandon Jennings and Larry Bird to determine who has the better numbers. Here you can compare their career totals, points per game, games of 40+ points, 50+, etc. and their year-by-year scoring averages side by side, both in the Regular Season and Playoffs.
Larry Bird is among the NBA's all-time leaders in points and also has one of the highest career averages in league history, and here we compare his scoring stats with those recorded by Brandon Jennings.
By taking a look at their career numbers for points, the first conclusion one can arrive at is that Larry Bird has better scoring stats than Brandon Jennings in averages and totals, both in the regular season and Playoffs. However, we won't stop there and we'll go into detail to analyze what these statistics are made up of, from how many games they had in each threshold (30+ points, 40+, 50+, etc.) to their season-by-season scoring averages.
On this page we compare: |
|
Who has better scoring stats? Career Numbers |
Career Numbers
Who has the better scoring stats?
Points in the Regular Season
In his 13 NBA regular seasons played, Larry Bird averages 10.2 points more than Brandon Jennings in his 9 seasons (24.3 points against 14.1), and he also scored a total of 13,990 points more (21,791 vs. 7,801).
Points Per Game | Seasons | ||
| Larry Bird | 24.3 | +10.2 | 13 |
| Brandon Jennings | 14.1 | 9 | |
Total Points | Seasons | ||
| Larry Bird | 21,791 | +13,990 | 13 |
| Brandon Jennings | 7,801 | 9 | |
Points in the Playoffs
Similar to what happens in the regular season, in the NBA postseason Larry Bird has a better career point average than Brandon Jennings (+14.9 points per game) and he also scored more points (+3,674).
Points Per Game | Playoffs | ||
| Larry Bird | 23.8 | +14.9 | 12 |
| Brandon Jennings | 8.9 | 4 | |
Total Points | Playoffs | ||
| Larry Bird | 3,897 | +3,674 | 12 |
| Brandon Jennings | 223 | 4 | |
Points by Thresholds
Regular Season
60+ Point Games | ||||
| Larry Bird | 1 | +1 | ||
| Brandon Jennings | 0 | |||
20+ Point Games | ||||
| Larry Bird | 625 | +475 | ||
| Brandon Jennings | 150 | |||
10+ Point Games | ||||
| Larry Bird | 873 | +515 | ||
| Brandon Jennings | 358 | |||
1+ Point Games (games with points) | ||||
| Larry Bird | 896 | +361 | ||
| Brandon Jennings | 535 | |||
0 Point Games (games without points) | ||||
| Larry Bird | 1 | |||
| Brandon Jennings | 20 | +19 | ||
Playoffs
40+ Point Games | ||||
| Larry Bird | 5 | +5 | ||
| Brandon Jennings | 0 | |||
20+ Point Games | ||||
| Larry Bird | 110 | +106 | ||
| Brandon Jennings | 4 | |||
10+ Point Games | ||||
| Larry Bird | 161 | +151 | ||
| Brandon Jennings | 10 | |||
1+ Point Games (games with points) | ||||
| Larry Bird | 164 | +146 | ||
| Brandon Jennings | 18 | |||
0 Point Games (games without points) | ||||
| Larry Bird | 0 | |||
| Brandon Jennings | 7 | +7 | ||
Career Shooting Stats Comparison
Regular Season
Stats Per Game
| Pts | FGM / A | % | 3PM / A | % | FTM / A | % | Yrs | Gms | ||||
| Larry Bird | 24.3 | 9.6 | 19.3 | 49.6 | 0.7 | 1.9 | 37.6 | 4.4 | 5.0 | 88.6 | 13 | 897 |
| difference: | +10.2 | +4.6 | +6.5 | +10.8 | +0.9 | +2.9 | +3.1 | +1.9 | +1.9 | +9.0 | +4 | +342 |
| Brandon Jennings | 14.1 | 5.0 | 12.8 | 38.7 | 1.6 | 4.8 | 34.5 | 2.5 | 3.1 | 79.6 | 9 | 555 |
Total Stats
| Pts | FGM / A | % | 3PM / A | % | FTM / A | % | Yrs | Gms | ||||
| Larry Bird | 21,791 | 8,591 | 17,334 | 49.6 | 649 | 1,727 | 37.6 | 3,960 | 4,471 | 88.6 | 13 | 897 |
| difference: | +13,990 | +5,841 | +10,235 | +10.8 | +265 | +921 | +3.1 | +2,573 | +2,728 | +9.0 | +4 | +342 |
| Brandon Jennings | 7,801 | 2,750 | 7,099 | 38.7 | 914 | 2,648 | 34.5 | 1,387 | 1,743 | 79.6 | 9 | 555 |
Playoffs
Stats Per Game
| Pts | FGM / A | % | 3PM / A | % | FTM / A | % | Yrs | Gms | ||||
| Larry Bird | 23.8 | 8.9 | 18.8 | 47.2 | 0.5 | 1.5 | 32.1 | 5.5 | 6.2 | 89.0 | 12 | 164 |
| difference: | +14.9 | +5.7 | +10.2 | +10.0 | +0.3 | +1.9 | +8.3 | +3.8 | +4.0 | +9.4 | +8 | +139 |
| Brandon Jennings | 8.9 | 3.2 | 8.6 | 37.2 | 0.8 | 3.4 | 23.8 | 1.7 | 2.2 | 79.6 | 4 | 25 |
Total Stats
| Pts | FGM / A | % | 3PM / A | % | FTM / A | % | Yrs | Gms | ||||
| Larry Bird | 3,897 | 1,458 | 3,090 | 47.2 | 80 | 249 | 32.1 | 901 | 1,012 | 89.0 | 12 | 164 |
| difference: | +3,674 | +1,378 | +2,875 | +10.0 | +60 | +165 | +8.3 | +858 | +958 | +9.4 | +8 | +139 |
| Brandon Jennings | 223 | 80 | 215 | 37.2 | 20 | 84 | 23.8 | 43 | 54 | 79.6 | 4 | 25 |
Year by Year Points Average Comparison
= NBA ChampionRegular Season
Rookie Season | Points per game | Year | Games | |
| Larry Bird | 21.3 | +5.8 | 1980 | 82 |
| Brandon Jennings | 15.5 | 2010 | 82 | |
Season 2 | Points per game | Year | Games | |
| Larry Bird | 21.2 | +5.0 | 1981 | 82 |
| Brandon Jennings | 16.2 | 2011 | 63 | |
Season 3 | Points per game | Year | Games | |
| Larry Bird | 22.9 | +3.8 | 1982 | 77 |
| Brandon Jennings | 19.1 | 2012 | 66 | |
Season 4 | Points per game | Year | Games | |
| Larry Bird | 23.6 | +6.1 | 1983 | 79 |
| Brandon Jennings | 17.5 | 2013 | 80 | |
Season 5 | Points per game | Year | Games | |
| Larry Bird | 24.2 | +8.7 | 1984 | 79 |
| Brandon Jennings | 15.5 | 2014 | 80 | |
Season 6 | Points per game | Year | Games | |
| Larry Bird | 28.7 | +13.3 | 1985 | 80 |
| Brandon Jennings | 15.4 | 2015 | 41 | |
Season 7 | Points per game | Year | Games | |
| Larry Bird | 25.8 | +18.9 | 1986 | 82 |
| Brandon Jennings | 6.9 | 2016 | 48 | |
Season 8 | Points per game | Year | Games | |
| Larry Bird | 28.1 | +21.0 | 1987 | 74 |
| Brandon Jennings | 7.1 | 2017 | 81 | |
Larry Bird's additional seasons: | ||||
* Larry Bird played 4 seasons more than Brandon Jennings in the NBA. In those years—his seasons 10 to 13, from 1989 to 1992—he averaged 21.5 points in a total of 186 regular season games. During that period, his highest average was 24.3 ppg and his lowest 19.3. |
Playoffs
Rookie Season | Points per game | Year | Games | |
| Larry Bird | 21.3 | +2.6 | 1980 | 9 |
| Brandon Jennings | 18.7 | 2010 | 7 | |
Season 2 | Points per game | Year | Games | |
| Larry Bird | 21.9 | +21.9 | 1981 | 17 |
| Brandon Jennings | - | DNP | 2011 | 0 |
Season 3 | Points per game | Year | Games | |
| Larry Bird | 17.8 | +17.8 | 1982 | 12 |
| Brandon Jennings | - | DNP | 2012 | 0 |
Season 4 | Points per game | Year | Games | |
| Larry Bird | 20.5 | +7.2 | 1983 | 6 |
| Brandon Jennings | 13.3 | 2013 | 4 | |
Season 5 | Points per game | Year | Games | |
| Larry Bird | 27.5 | +27.5 | 1984 | 23 |
| Brandon Jennings | - | DNP | 2014 | 0 |
Season 6 | Points per game | Year | Games | |
| Larry Bird | 26.0 | +26.0 | 1985 | 20 |
| Brandon Jennings | - | DNP | 2015 | 0 |
Season 7 | Points per game | Year | Games | |
| Larry Bird | 25.9 | +25.9 | 1986 | 18 |
| Brandon Jennings | - | DNP | 2016 | 0 |
Season 8 | Points per game | Year | Games | |
| Larry Bird | 27.0 | +24.2 | 1987 | 23 |
| Brandon Jennings | 2.8 | 2017 | 13 | |
Larry Bird's additional Playoffs: | ||||
* During his 4 additional NBA seasons, Larry Bird played in 3 Playoffs. In those postseasons he averaged 17.8 points in a total of 19 games. His highest playoff average during that period was 24.4 ppg and his lowest 11.3. |